Hookah bars continue to draw city youth, police ‘unaware’

Sukhmeet Bhasin

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, February 21

Hookah bars are illegally operating in the city under the nose of the district administration and police.

Many bars in the area around Ajit road and Ghorewala Chowk have started serving hookah.

Leading hotels in the city have also started providing it on demand in parties.

Many youngsters and college-going students visit the bars regularly.

Apoorv, a college student, said “I was introduced to hookah by a friend last year. Initially, I did not like it, but gradually, I started enjoying different flavours. Now, I regularly visit hookah bars in the city.”

Another college student, on condition of anonymity, said having hookah has now become a fashion statement.

“Many students have purchased hookahs and they take it in their room. There are many shops in the city that are openly selling hookahs and its products,” he said.

The price of the service hovers around Rs 300 per hookah. Different flavours like mint, blue freezer, chocolate and orange are available to entice youths.

This illegal business is going on for the past many months but the police seem unaware of it.

The Health Department has also never raided these places to see if they comply with Cigarette and Other Tobacco Product Act (COTPA).

The Punjab Government had banned hookah bars in the state in 2011.

Hookah smokers remain unaware of its dangers and often consider it as an alternative to cigarettes.

The use of water in a hookah does not filter out cancer-causing chemicals. The tobacco used in a “sheesha” (hookah) contains nicotine.

In a 60-minute hookah session, smokers are exposed to 100 times the volume of smoke inhaled from a cigarette.

A senior police official claimed that he was not aware of any hookah bar operating in the city but he would surely check it and if such bar was found, strict action would be initiated against the violator.